There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding which begs for correction from my point of view. Sorry, I thought this all should just die.

FrankC - "The fundamental difference is that you and others believe our enemies will eventually respond to kindness and tolerance of their ways and you see us as the bad guys."

If you believe that, I can see why you are irritated. And what you are saying about my beliefs isn't accurate.

I believe "hearts and minds" need to be won over, and the badguys eliminated. I believe it is inefficient to be so poorly focused as to create more enemies than we rid ourselves of. Iraq is a great case in point. The US had the sympathies of many folks early on, squandered that in poor ROE. Tragic for both the Middle East, America, and a lot of families.

Hard not to see that as a direct result of the "Bring 'em on!" mentality. I believe the US does act badly at times. I do not believe our folks on the ground or in the air over Iraq are badguys, at all. I believe they are poorly served by the civilian leadership. Again. As in Vietnam.

FrankC - "It is not my business to police Ed or anyone else. I have told you that I think he goes overboard sometimes but so do you and so do I."

If your sensibilities are offended by my posts, if your sensitivities are triggered by my comments, if you are truly interested in a cleaner HZ, then you would regard ebnelson as your "business". I can't help but think that your desire to clean up the Boards is limited. As evidenced by no noticeable display regarding his repeated ad hominem remarks with absolutely no content.

Oh, well. As you said, or somebody did, it's like pounding sand down a rat-hole.

I think "detente" is a great idea, with the beneficiaries being each person who refrains from ad hominem attacks. And I still do. And the folks who don't, or who post completely non-responsive replies, well, it's hard to respect 'em. And losing respect of others is, from my point of view, their problem.

Arf